| Final | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. John Naber | USA | 55.49s | 1. 1. | | 2. Peter Rocca | USA | 56.34s | 5. 2. | | 3. Roland Matthes | GDR | 57.22s | 2. 3. | | 4. Carlos Berrocal | PUR | 57.28s | 9. 5. | | 5. Lutz Wanja | GDR | 57.49s | 6. 4. | | 6. Bob Jackson | USA | 57.69s | 4. 6. | | 7. Mark Kerry | AUS | 57.94s | 3. 7. | | 8. Mark Tonelli | AUS | 58.42s | 8. 8. |
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| Semi 1 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Roland Matthes | GDR | 57.48s | 3. | | 2. Lutz Wanja | GDR | 57.50s | 4. | | 3. Bob Jackson | USA | 57.65s | 6. | | 4. Mark Tonelli | AUS | 58.14s | 8. | | 5. Stephen Pickell | CAN | 58.21s | 10. | | 6. Igor Omelchenko | URS | 58.77s | 13. | | 7. Paul Jouanneau | BRA | 59.59s | 14. | | 8. Ryszard Żugaj | POL | 59.90s | 16. |
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| Semi 2 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. John Naber | USA | 56.19s | 1. | | 2. Peter Rocca | USA | 56.88s | 2. | | 3. Carlos Berrocal | PUR | 57.53s | 5. | | 4. Mark Kerry | AUS | 58.04s | 7. | | 5. Glenn Patching | AUS | 58.15s | 9. | | 6. Arantes Filho Rômulo | BRA | 58.49s | 11. | | 7. Zoltán Verrasztó | HUN | 58.63s | 12. | | 8. Santiago Esteva | ESP | 59.71s | 15. |
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| Heat 6 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. John Naber | USA | 56.80s | 1. | | 2. Zoltán Verrasztó | HUN | 59.30s | 11. | | 3. Santiago Esteva | ESP | 59.88s | 15. | | 4. Krasimir Stoykov | BUL | 1:00.24 | 17. | | 5. Ignacio Álvarez | MEX | 1:00.80 | 26. | | 6. Enrico Bisso | ITA | 1:01.32 | 33. | | 7. Thomas Hofer | SUI | 1:01.90 | 36. |
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| Heat 5 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Mark Kerry | AUS | 57.99s | 3. | | 2. Peter Rocca | USA | 58.12s | 5. | | 3. Igor Omelchenko | URS | 59.03s | 10. | | 4. Reinhold Becker | FRG | 1:00.57 | 20. | | 5. Predrag Miloš | YUG | 1:01.05 | 30. | | 6. Conrado Porta | ARG | 1:01.13 | 31. | | 7. Gerardo Rosario | PHI | 1:02.08 | 37. |
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| Heat 4 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Roland Matthes | GDR | 57.98s | 2. | | 2. Glenn Patching | AUS | 59.49s | 13. | | 3. Ryszard Żugaj | POL | 1:00.16 | 16. | | 4. Rudolf Róbert | HUN | 1:00.58 | 21. | | 5. Nenad Miloš | YUG | 1:00.70 | 24. | | 6. Ramón Volcan | VEN | 1:01.20 | 32. | | 7. Lionel Beylot-Bourcelot | FRA | 1:01.58 | 35. |
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| Heat 3 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Bob Jackson | USA | 58.02s | 4. | | 2. Arantes Filho Rômulo | BRA | 58.46s | 7. | | 3. Jim Carter | GBR | 1:00.39 | 18. | | 4. Gary Abraham | GBR | 1:00.61 | 22. | | 5. Robert Howard | IRE | 1:00.77 | 25. | | 6. Mike Scarth | CAN | 1:01.33 | 34. | | 7. António de Melo | POR | 1:05.76 | 39. |
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| Heat 2 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Carlos Berrocal | PUR | 58.71s | 9. | | 2. Paul Jouanneau | BRA | 59.35s | 12. | | 3. Stephen Pickell | CAN | 59.65s | 14. | | 4. José Urueta | MEX | 1:00.85 | 27. | | 5. Mikael Brandén | SWE | 1:01.05 | 29. | | 6. Chiang Jin Choon | MAS | 1:05.86 | 40. |
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| Heat 1 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Lutz Wanja | GDR | 58.38s | 6. | | 2. Mark Tonelli | AUS | 58.53s | 8. | | 3. Milošlav Roľko | TCH | 1:00.41 | 19. | | 4. Steve Hardy | CAN | 1:00.69 | 23. | | 5. Tadashi Honda | JPN | 1:01.00 | 28. | | 6. Ivan Mikolutsky | URS | 1:03.86 | 38. | | 7. Frank Richardson | NIC | 1:12.38 | 41. |
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